GREEN ARROW/BLACK CANARY #3

Dead Again, Part Three:  Hit & Run, Run, Run

February 2008

Written by Judd Winick

Pencils by Cliff Chiang

Inks by Cliff Chiang

Cover by Cliff Chiang

Synopsis

On Themyscira, Dinah Lance (aka Black Canary) tells Athena that she agrees to train the women of the Amazon, but first she must prove her fortitude by defeating as many Amazons as it takes.  Dinah’s decision, however, is merely a stalling tactic until she is certain Oliver Queen (aka Green Arrow) has escaped his imprisonment from the Amazons.  Elsewhere, Ollie and Connor Hawke have managed to escape their pursuers and eventually reach the safety of a boat offshore.  There, they set off the signal for Dinah and Mia Deardon (aka Speedy), who immediately leave for the boat.  The reunion between Dinah and Ollie, however, is short when a missile from the sky pierces Connor’s heart.

Review by Binkley (e-mail)

Some people love Judd Winick’s writing.  Some people hate Judd Winick’s writing.  Strangely enough, I don’t think there is any way to convince one side or another to change their point of view.  So, either you like Winick’s Green Arrow or you don’t.  Nominally, I am in the camp of liking Winick’s Green Arrow.  But it is issues like this that Winick seriously shoots himself in the foot and proves that he doesn’t quite get it.  This issue isn’t so much a story as much as it is brief moments strung together in the hopes it will make a story.  Yes, it is nice to get the complete story of Everyman’s impersonation of Green Arrow and what Granny Goodness had originally planned.  Yes, it is nice to see the Green Arrow family reunited once more.  Yes, the cliffhanger was shocking and a little sad.  But taken as a whole it falls flat.  The reunion is too short and rushed to get to the ending and Granny’s explanation seems forced into the narrative, as if Winick was too concerned to let the reader he had thought of all the angles, especially since everyone cried foul when Dinah killed “Ollie” in the first place.  And then Connor’s death is the wrong way to go.  I’m not saying killing Connor is a bad idea, but doing it so soon after “Ollie’s” death shows a lack of imagination and lack of confidence in the ability to write good stories without resorting to an “Event.”  Hopefully, Winick can distance himself from these types of stunts and write stories, not Events. 

The preview on the DC Nation for the next issue states, “The fate of Connor Hawke!” which might suggest that Connor did not die.  So, it really comes down to:  is he dead or not.  I think the answer to that question annoys me regardless what it might be.  First, if Connor is not dead, then this is the second time in, what, four months Winick has used the bait and switch of, “wait he’s dead, no he really isn’t” to generate some drama.  Fool me once, and all that.  And if Connor really is dead, it is such an ignoble way to die and (at least at this point) a pointless death.  Does he die saving the world, like Ollie did when he died some 10 years ago or so?  No.  Does he die in some grand fashion with a strong build up?  No.  In fact, Winick gives the death very little build up.  Bam!  It just comes out of nowhere.  And while it might be shocking, it is really meaningless.  Connor deserves better. 

At the very least, Winick has made sure to let the reader know that “Athena” is Granny Goodness, something which Countdown To Final Crisis only recently revealed, despite the fact that “Athena’s” true identity was exposed months ago in the ending to Amazons Attack.  If you have read any of my reviews for Countdown, then you know how annoyed I am that DC would ignore events in one comic compared to another.  I like the fact that this book gets the Athena question out of the way this early, so we can get to the core of Apokolips’ plan.  Or whatever it is Granny and Desaad are cooking up.

PREVIOUS	Main		Page	NEXT